It would be nice if you included a link to the story so we could see the photos without having to hunt them down.

http://photos.nj.com/4505/gallery/jer ... _his_apartment/index.html

Big Deal! I've been building a Supercollider in my place for two years. It should be ready in a few weeks.

That's awesome.

Piece by piece, Jersey City man built own airplane inside Downtown home

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
By RHEA MAHBUBANI
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Michael Jackson loves a challenge.

The 53-year-old Jersey City man spent 14 months constructing a 785-pound airplane in his four-story townhouse Downtown.

That's right, an airplane.

Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Jackson demonstrated an affinity for "technical disciplines" at a young age. He spent several years working as a full-time computer programmer and application designer.

"I enjoy work that I can really get into," said Jackson, who has flexible hours working as a consultant out of his home office. "I like being able to use my hands."

In the summer of 2009, Jackson attended an air show in Oshkosh, Wis., when a motor glider caught his attention.

"I saw a big price tag like the ones in used-car lots," he said of the demonstration model made by Senox, an aircraft kit manufacturing company. "I took one look at that figure ($31,700), and knew I was going to buy the airplane kit."

After measuring every room in his house, Jackson attended a workshop in October and a month later, a plane - in thousands of pieces, nuts and bolts, etc. - was delivered to his doorstep. Stacking all the boxes in his first-floor dining room, Jackson purchased drills, a band saw, files, a bench grinder and other miscellaneous tools to tackle the plane, one part at a time.

"It was very tight for a long time," he said. "There was barely enough room (to move)."

Jackson constructed each of the 25-foot wings in a 22-foot room. The ends extended into the hallway. He removed the staircase handrails to create more space and then spent months climbing under the wings and fuselage just to get around his home.

While his father and close friends encouraged him, Jackson encountered his share of people who called him "crazy."

Jackson set a February 2011 deadline and stuck to it.

"Often I worked 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week," he said.

Jackson hired a moving company truck to transport the constructed parts to a rented hangar at an airport in Blairstown. Jackson hammered in rivets, and polished aluminum, not pausing until his "Xenos N42XE Silver Hawk" was created.

After receiving his Air Worthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, Jackson made a successful 35-minute maiden flight on March 27.

Now the plane must undergo an FAA-mandated 40-hour test flight period during which Jackson cannot fly farther than 25 miles from the airport, but Jackson already has his first long-distance flight planned.

He'll be visiting his father, David, in Columbus.